Lavender House By Benjamin Black

A "Best Of" Book From: Amazon * Buzzfeed * Rainbow Reading * Library Journal * CrimeReads * BookPage * Book Riot * Autostraddle

A delicious story from a new voice in suspense, Lev AC Rosen''s Lavender House is Knives Out with a queer historical twist.

Lavender House, 1952: the family seat of recently deceased matriarch Irene Lamontaine, head of the famous Lamontaine soap empire. Irene?s recipes for her signature scents are a well guarded secret?but it''s not the only one behind these gates. This estate offers a unique freedom, where none of the residents or staff hide who they are. But to keep their secret, they''ve needed to keep others out. And now they''re worried they''re keeping a murderer in.

Irene?s widow hires Evander Mills to uncover the truth behind her mysterious death. Andy, recently fired from the San Francisco police after being caught in a raid on a gay bar, is happy to accept?his calendar is wide open. And his secret is the kind of secret the Lamontaines understand.

Andy had never imagined a world like Lavender House. He''s seduced by the safety and freedom found behind its gates, where a queer family lives honestly and openly. But that honesty doesn''t extend to everything, and he quickly finds himself a pawn in a family game of old money, subterfuge, and jealousy?and Irene?s death is only the beginning.

When your existence is a crime, everything you do is criminal, and the gates of Lavender House can?t lock out the real world forever. Running a soap empire can be a dirty business.

Dive into the full Evander Mills series:

Lavender House
The Bell in the Fog
Rough Pages